*Marvel: Following his debut in Fantastic Four #48, Norrin Radd, Herald of Galactus, gained popularity as a recurring guest star, and his status was confirmed when Marvel launched the Silver Surfer’s own series in the double-sized format in 1968. This premier issue featured, for the first time, John Buscema’s illustrations on the Surfer, a body of work generally acknowledged to be among his finest, and presented also for the first time a 38 page account of the Surfer’s origins, plus (in the back) a 13 page tale of the Watcher, detailing the reasons behind the Watcher’s oath of non-interference. The first run of the Surfer’s solo series has achieved cult status, with the first seven double-sized issues in particular being keenly sought out. Structurally, this is a pretty decent copy, with a spine intact apart from a 1 cm split at the base. The colour cover is vivid, the staples excellent and the page quality a nice off-white. Edge wear and corner blunting are fairly minimal and a tiny crease at the right cover bottom edge barely breaks colour. A small 1/6 has been written in biro above the Surfer’s figure in the masthead box; unfortunately, a larger, pale blue 1/6 has been stamped on the main Surfer figure’s chest (see scan). This has caused us to grade the comic lower than it would otherwise be and it’s also priced accordingly. If you can live with that large 1/6, this is a chance to get a nice copy at a cheaper than usual price for the condition.
PICTURED: SILVER SURFER #1 VG- £395 SOLD